Practicing "Spiritual Rain Technique"

The "Hidden Spirit Art" was the sorcery Xu Chunniang was currently using. With its help, her cultivation, which was originally at the peak of the second level of Qi Condensation, was concealed.

What was revealed was the appearance of someone who had just recently entered the second level of Qi Condensation. Since Xu Chunniang used the Hidden Spirit Art to mask her cultivation, she naturally wouldn't use it for the demonstration.

The "Spring Growth Technique" required the caster to apply it to spiritual plants. The demonstration stage was empty; where would she find spiritual plants to cast it on? She couldn't possibly ask the stewards to find one for her on the spot.

Therefore, the only sorcery she could demonstrate was the "Spiritual Rain Technique."

Xu Chunniang walked onto the stage with a calm expression. The Spiritual Rain Technique was the first sorcery she learned, and it was also the one she had used the most and practiced for the longest time.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that she could cast it perfectly even with her eyes closed.

"Disciple Xu Chunniang, the sorcery to be demonstrated is: Spiritual Rain Technique!"

As her voice fell, the disciples below erupted in an uproar.

"What, Spiritual Rain Technique? Did I hear that right? That's the sorcery exclusively for Spiritual Plant Cultivators, used for watering spiritual plants?"

"Look at her composed demeanor, I thought she had a Spiritual Artifact too. I didn't expect her to demonstrate the Spiritual Rain Technique. Truly, ugly and audacious."

"Exactly. She looks so confident. Even without a Spiritual Artifact, she should at least cast a powerful offensive sorcery. What's with the Spiritual Rain Technique? Is she trying to be funny?"

Before Qi Haozhi used his Flying Sword, several people had demonstrated purely auxiliary sorceries. But after witnessing the highly offensive Spirit Sword Technique, they were afraid of being ridiculed by the crowd and tried to avoid demonstrating purely auxiliary sorceries.

After all, new disciples learned two sorceries in total. If they gave up one, they could still choose the other. It was extremely rare for someone to choose two auxiliary sorceries simultaneously.

Xu Chunniang was one of those rare few. She had chosen auxiliary sorceries, and hadn't even picked any defensive ones.

The only things she could showcase were these looked-down-upon sorceries.

Before going on stage, Xu Chunniang had anticipated that some people would mock her, so she didn't listen to the voices from below. She simply took a deep breath and began her demonstration.

As she made her movements, mist began to gather above more than half of the demonstration stage. Soon, drops of spiritual qi-infused rain began to fall, carrying a very small amount of spiritual qi.

Just as Xu Chunniang began her demonstration, Steward Mu, who had been pretending to be asleep with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no one's actions escaped her notice. From the very beginning, she had recognized this female disciple who had almost been late as the person who had exchanged for the "Hidden Spirit Art" at the Merit Pavilion that day.

Not only had this female disciple learned the Hidden Spirit Art, but she was also using it very well. Furthermore, while casting sorcery, she could still spare a portion of her attention to continuously maintain the operation of the Hidden Spirit Art.

In front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Xu Chunniang's cultivation was completely exposed. Steward Mu could see her true cultivation level at a glance – the peak of the second level of Qi Condensation, only a hair's breadth away from the third level.

With such cultivation, she was already among the best of all the new disciples participating in the assessment, almost catching up to the cultivation speed of Inner Sect disciples.

No wonder this little girl was so determined to learn the Hidden Spirit Art.

Steward Mu smiled slightly, guessing that she had probably encountered some fortuitous encounter and was afraid that her cultivation would increase too quickly, attracting the attention of others. She was indeed someone who knew how to hide her strength.

The Spiritual Rain Technique cast by Xu Chunniang lasted for a full fifteen breaths before finally stopping. Then, the black-faced steward responsible for scoring announced her result.

"Xu Chunniang, the range of the Spiritual Rain Technique is wide, the rain is dense, the spiritual qi is abundant, and the duration is long. Your score is – Excellent!"

Upon hearing the score, the disciples below were in an uproar.

"What, it's Excellent? Did I hear that wrong? This is the Spiritual Rain Technique."

"You didn't hear wrong. That steward did indeed say so. After all, the sorcery assessment isn't about testing the power, but about whether the sorcery is cast perfectly.

From this perspective, this Spiritual Rain Technique does deserve an Excellent score."

"Even if she got an Excellent score, so what? It's just a Spiritual Rain Technique. No matter how well it's used, it can only be used for watering. It has no effect in actual combat.

In my opinion, this woman is not only ugly but also stupid. She must have wasted a lot of time practicing the Spiritual Rain Technique so well."

"Exactly. It would be much better to use that time to improve her cultivation. She's practicing the Spiritual Rain Technique. I bet she's determined to become that useless Spiritual Plant Cultivator."

Xu Chunniang relied on her proficient Spiritual Rain Technique to achieve an Excellent score. After walking off the stage, not only did no one envy her, but many people sneered and mocked her.

In the Outer Sect of the Carefree Sect, the status of Spiritual Plant Cultivators was relatively low. Spiritual Plant Cultivators spent their days farming and tending to spiritual grasses. Compared to other professions, it was indeed somewhat undignified.

However, in the Inner Sect of the Carefree Sect, there were Spiritual Medicine Masters who specialized in cultivating high-level spiritual medicines. Their status was only slightly lower than that of Alchemists. The only problem was that to become a Spiritual Medicine Master, one needed at least Foundation Establishment cultivation, which was too far away for these disciples.

After all, barring any accidents, the vast majority of them would be stuck in the Qi Condensation stage for their entire lives, with no hope of ever entering the Inner Sect.

Xu Chunniang acted as if she heard nothing of their mockery.

These people disdained Spiritual Plant Cultivators for being undignified and useless, yet they didn't use their brains to think. For other professions such as Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Formations, and Beast Taming, which one didn't require a large amount of financial investment?

Even Talismans, which had the lowest barrier to entry, required expensive talisman brushes and inks, which were simply unaffordable for these Outer Sect disciples with shallow cultivation and no foundation.

Although Spiritual Plant Cultivators sounded undignified, their barrier to entry was low. They only needed to be proficient in a few professional sorceries and didn't require any other investment.

Most people looked down on Spiritual Plant Cultivators simply because they aimed too high and aimed too low.

Qi Haozhi also saw Xu Chunniang's demonstration. Seeing that her score was the same as his, a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes.

He had used the Spirit Sword Technique, which was countless times more advanced than that ugly girl's Spiritual Rain Technique, yet the final score was the same – Excellent. This was simply an insult to him!

What made him even more furious was that this ugly girl's cultivation had actually reached the second level of Qi Condensation without anyone noticing.

Qi Haozhi snorted coldly, "As expected of a narrow-minded peasant. They've been farming for generations in the mortal world, and even after stumbling into the cultivation world, they still want to farm."

After displaying his superb Spirit Sword Technique, Qi Haozhi had already become a prominent figure among the new disciples. Although he spoke softly, everyone who had embarked on the path of cultivation had sharp hearing and keen eyesight, so how could they not hear him?

Immediately, a chorus of agreement arose.

"So that's how it is. No wonder this ugly girl worked so hard to practice the Spiritual Rain Technique. It turns out her ancestors were all farming peasants."

"Her name is Xu Chunniang, right? Tsk, that name sounds like a village girl, so common."

"This way, she's saved herself some trouble. While we were still agonizing over whether to choose the alchemy or artifact refining major, she had already taken a big step towards becoming a Spiritual Plant Cultivator."

"Pfft, hahaha, you're hilarious. Don't even talk about her taking one step towards becoming a Spiritual Plant Cultivator. Even if she does become one, that's all the ambition she'll have, and it won't change the fact that she's a country bumpkin. Not to mention, her looks really suit the Spiritual Plant Cultivator profession."

In everyone's eyes, Xu Chunniang had clearly become a laughingstock.

Thank you to fellow Daoist Lulu for the reward, and thank you to all fellow Daoists for your recommendation tickets and continued reading! Including but not limited to: Caged Sparrow, Brilliant Flower Bloom, Wa., nnhgj, Opera Fan~, Kong, and some numerical book friends, etc. I can't hold back my saved drafts anymore, I'm adding more chapters for you all!